Polish processor reports hefty gains

Polish fish processor Seko SA posted sales of PLN 42.58 million (10.1 million) in Q1, an increase of 16.5% compared with the same period a year earlier.

In the first three months of 2017, Seko reported a net profit of more than PLN 2.68 million (€640,000), a robust 70.4% increase compared with the same period last year.

Seko says that its activities in the first quarter of 2017 included efforts to acquire new foreign customers for its products to boost its export sales. Currently, the company exports about 10% of its output to a number of EU member states. Seko’s major foreign markets comprise Germany, where the company sells about 41% of its exports, as well as the UK, France, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The fish processor’s product range includes processed salmon, herring, mackerel and tuna, according to data released by Seko. The company operates a plant in Chojnice, in close proximity of Poland’s Baltic Sea shore and the country’s border with Germany.

Last year, Kazimierz Kustra, the president of Seko’s management board and its shareholder, unveiled plans to introduce a range of new processed fish snacks without additives to the company’s portfolio. In 2016, Seko sold some 14,800 tonnes of various processed fish products.

Since March 2007, Seko has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). Local company Zlota Rybka Ltd, controlled by the Kustra family, owns a stake of 62.4% in Seko. Other major shareholders include local investment fund Opera TFI S.A., with 14.99% of the shares in the fish processor, and local private pension fund PKO BP Bankowy OFE, with a stake of 8.05% in Seko.